The Old Haunts seem to blend country with indie with post-rock and a host of associated sub-genres as well. The vocals are post-rock but thankfully minus any crazy screaming and nicely harsh and high-pitched. I thought of Murder By Death, Nekromantix, and countless indie-rock bands which merge into one another in my mind whilst listening to this, but they’re not really like any of them. In fact, come to think of it, the vocals are probably closest to The White Stripes.
Guitars are frequently plucked through verses and chords only come into play during choruses. This style, coupled with a ‘walking’ style of bass, is what brings the country-ish imagery into play, with thoughts of the deep and dirty south.
Having only 3 members, the sound relies heavily on emotion-laden vocals as there is no other source of power to come through and quicken things up a bit during choruses. And that’s where this record begins to define itself for me: it’s neither varied enough to be great, but executed well enough, and sort of suitably lost in its own drifting melancholy to position itself firmly in the ‘above average’ bracket. Standout track, for me, ‘Wasted Day’ epitomises a slightly more rounded sound which is reminiscent of early work by The Coral, which I think suits their style perfectly.
www.oldhaunts.com
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